THE CASERNE BIR HACHEIM
- Apr 24
- 4 min read
You may be familiar with the commando biographies written by Jean-Christophe Rouxel in his Parcours des Vies dans La Royale. Or you many have original commando war service documents. In many cases these refer to the “Caserne Bir Hacheim” or “CBH”.
Many of the biographies also refer to the “Caserne Surcouf”, and a few to the “Caserne Birot”.
These were the three most important land based barracks used by the FNFL -. The Caserne Bir Hacheim (sometimes written “Bir Hakeim”), is well-documented, and constitutes the major part of this article. It should give you a better understanding of life in these barracks, where many commandos spent several months during the war.
Some brief notes are also included for casernes Surcouf and Birot.
Caserne Bir Hacheim
The Caserne Bir Hacheim was an FNFL barracks in Emsworth, near Portsmouth, which was opened in August 1942.
In September 1941 the FNFL requested permission to establish a land-based dépôt des équipages for 400 men. A site was found in Emsworth, about 15km north-east of Portsmouth. It replaced the “floating barracks” provided until that time by obsolete FNFL ships in Portsmouth harbour (the battleship Courbet, the aviso Arras, and destroyer Ouragan).
The École des Fusiliers Marins at Skegness (HMS Royal Arthur) transferred to Emsworth at the same time.
There are no remaining signs of the caserne; the site was redeveloped as a housing estate after the war. The site lay to north of Southleigh Road, and broadly between the present-day Allendale Avenue and Hollybank Lane. The present day Greville Green is the site of the former parade ground.
It was named after the Battle of Bir Hakeim, which took place at an oasis of that name in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942). The 1st Free French Brigade under Général de brigade Marie-Pierre Kœnig defended the position from 26 May – 11 June against Axis forces of Panzerarmee Afrika commanded by Generaloberst Erwin Rommel. The Panzerarmee captured Tobruk ten days later.
The delay imposed on the Axis offensive by the defence of Bir Hakeim influenced the cancellation of Operation Herkules, the Axis invasion of Malta. Rommel invaded Egypt, slowed by British delaying actions until the First Battle of El Alamein in July, where the Axis advance was stopped. Both sides used the battle for propaganda, Winston Churchill declared the Free French to be the "Fighting French".
The caserne was opened on 1st August 1942 and there was a formal opening ceremony on 24th September 1942. This was attended by Rear-Admiral Auboyneau head of the FNFL, Cardinal Hinsley the Archbishop of Westminster and leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Sir Denis Daley Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and other dignitaries.
No plan of the caserne site has been found, but there is a detailed description in the French archives (SHD Vincennes, TTC 94). Accommodation was provided for 371 men in 34 Nissen huts, although in practice up to 420 were housed there. An additional 10 huts served as stores, canteens, kitchens and a shop, together with a meeting room capable of accommodating 250 men. One hut was converted into a chapel. Separate brick-built buildings housed toilet facilities, a small prison with ten cells, fire and electricity sub-stations, and a small infirmary with 15 beds. The camp had electricity, and water and sewage.
The accommodation was quite comfortable, if somewhat spartan.
The perimeter of the site was protected by five rows of barbed wire, and defence was provided by one double 37mm cannon, one quadruple 13.2mm machine gun, and six 8mm machine guns deployed at strategic sites.
Two interesting anecdotes, both of which relate to concerns by the British authorities over security issues with the FNFL, and indeed with all the Free French forces in the UK.
In November 1942 it was reported to the FNFL headquarters in London that a British pilot had seen a large Croix de Lorraine, apparently a flower bed in the middle of a lawn at Bir Hacheim, visible from 1000 metres altitude, which clearly pointed to the identity of the site. The camp commandant was ordered to remove the cross without delay, but his immediate action was simply to remove the second bar, leaving a simple cross. The archives do not reveal whether this was considered an adequate response.
In 1943 the FNFL requested to set up a radio transmitter at Bir Hacheim, ostensibly for communication with FNFL units outside the UK. At the time all radio traffic with FNFL ships was effectively controlled by the Royal Navy, who had radio operators on all FNFL ships. The Foreign Office feared that the radio would be used for political messages “many of which can be guaranteed to be obnoxious to His Majesty’s Government”. The request was refused.
Caserne Surcouf
The Caserne Surcouf was the main FNFL barracks in London, which also served as the FNFL administrative base in the UK. It was opened in 1942 and replaced earlier accommodation and administrative sites at Gordon Street from July 1940 to May 1941 (when it was known as the Compagnie de Passage Londres abbreviated CPL), and in Barnes from May 1941 to May 1942.
It was located in an abandoned former convent, the Notre Dame convent school, run by an order of Belgian nuns, at 40 South Side, Clapham Common.
After the war, the site was redeveloped as a housing estate, and no trace of the convent building remains.
Caserne Birot
The Caserne Birot served the major FNFL base in Greenock, where the fleet of corvettes was based. At its peak some 1500 FNFL personnel were based there. The caserne was named after Lieutenant Commander Roger Birot, commandant of the corvette Mimosa, which was based in Greenock, and was sunk by U-124, with the loss of all but four of the crew on 9th June 1942.
The caserne occupied a number of premises in Greenock, concentrated in the area from Newark Street to the villas at the foot of Lyle Road, making this a little corner of France.
After the war a memorial was erected on Lyle Hill, overlooking the harbour.
© Noël Rabouhans - 16th February 2026
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